Require Prohibited People to Turn in Their Guns
What does it solve?
Requiring people to turn in their guns when they become legally prohibited from having them helps keep guns out of the wrong hands. Under federal law, there is no affirmative requirement that people who are prohibited from having guns turn in firearms that they already have.
This makes it easy for felons, domestic abusers, and other people who would otherwise fail a background check to keep their guns. Ensuring that firearms do not remain in the hands of those who are legally prohibited from having them helps enforce our laws that prohibit people with dangerous histories from being armed.
Which states require prohibited domestic abusers to turn in any guns after a conviction?
Alabama has not adopted this policy
Alaska has not adopted this policy
Arizona has not adopted this policy
Arkansas has not adopted this policy
California has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- Yes
Colorado has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Connecticut has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Delaware has not adopted this policy
Florida has not adopted this policy
Georgia has not adopted this policy
Hawaii has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Idaho has not adopted this policy
Illinois has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Indiana has not adopted this policy
Iowa has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Kansas has not adopted this policy
Kentucky has not adopted this policy
Louisiana has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Maine has not adopted this policy
Maryland has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- Yes
Massachusetts has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- Yes
Michigan has not adopted this policy
Minnesota has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Mississippi has not adopted this policy
Missouri has not adopted this policy
Montana has not adopted this policy
Nebraska has not adopted this policy
Nevada has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
New Hampshire has not adopted this policy
New Jersey has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- Yes
New Mexico has not adopted this policy
New York has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- Yes
North Carolina has not adopted this policy
North Dakota has not adopted this policy
Ohio has not adopted this policy
Oklahoma has not adopted this policy
Oregon has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Pennsylvania has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- Yes
Rhode Island has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- Yes
South Carolina has not adopted this policy
South Dakota has not adopted this policy
Tennessee has adopted this policy
- Does the state bar the surrender of firearms to third parties?
- No
Texas has not adopted this policy
Utah has not adopted this policy
Vermont has not adopted this policy
Virginia has not adopted this policy
Washington has not adopted this policy
West Virginia has not adopted this policy
Wisconsin has not adopted this policy
Wyoming has not adopted this policy
Myth & Fact
Myth
Relinquishment laws are just an elaborate way for the government to confiscate guns.
Fact
Relinquishment laws simply enforce existing laws that prohibit certain categories of people with dangerous histories from having guns. If a person is subsequently allowed to have guns again—for example, because they are no longer under a prohibiting restraining order—they can get back the guns they turned in.
How it works
Keep guns out of the wrong hands.
Requiring people prohibited from having guns to turn in the guns they already own simply enforces existing laws. Federal and state laws already provide that certain categories of people, for example, felons and domestic abusers, cannot have firearms.118 U.S.C. § 922(g) Background checks are essential to making sure these people cannot buy new guns. But it is equally important to make sure that they cannot hold onto the guns they already have.
Although federal law prohibits several categories of people with dangerous histories from having firearms,218 U.S.C. § 922(g) it does not affirmatively require firearms to be turned in once a person becomes prohibited nor does it set forth a process for them to do so. It is up to the states to make sure that prohibited people actually turn in their guns. The process typically involves state and local courts and law enforcement.
A strong relinquishment law includes a swift timeline and requires a prohibited person to turn in their gun(s) to law enforcement or a licensed firearms dealer. It also allows law enforcement to seek a warrant and seize firearms that are not promptly turned in and requires any purchase or carry permits to be turned in. Technological infrastructure to identify gun owners in real-time as they are convicted or otherwise become prohibited and funding for personnel to remove guns if they are not turned in voluntarily are also essential for successful gun removal programs.
By the numbers
173,000
There are an estimated 173,000 gun owners in the US who become prohibited each year.
14–16%
State laws that require people under domestic violence-related restraining orders to turn in their firearms are associated with a 14 to 16 percent lower intimate partner firearm homicide rate.
>23,000 guns
California authorities removed over 23,000 guns from prohibited people between 2014 and 2021.
>10,000 guns
From January 2019 to September 2021, authorities in Illinois conducted more than 450 firearms enforcement actions, covering more than 1,300 prohibited persons and more than 10,000 illegal firearms.
Domestic violence and gun violence are inextricably linked in the United States. In summer 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the federal law that keeps abusers under domestic violence restraining orders (DVROs) from purchasing or possessing firearms. This law, and other state and federal laws that prohibit abusers subject to restraining…Continue